<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The patient in room 2516 by NYWCgirl</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650536">The patient in room 2516</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl'>NYWCgirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, ICU, Medical Induced Coma, Missions Gone Wrong, Team as Family, injuries, outsider pov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:27:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650536</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The patient in room 2516 is very good looking, but clearly very ill as well. What could have happened to him?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021 [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137467</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The patient in room 2516</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The fic fills prompt 23 of Febuwhump, which was ‘Don’t look.’</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> ‘You are assigned to the ICU. You can get scrubs from the clothing machine in the basement, next to the locker rooms. Here is your badge. Welcome.’</p>
<p>‘Thank you.’</p>
<p>Francine accepts her badge and goes to the clothing machine. Holding her badge against the reader, the machine comes to life. The door unlocks and she can take a set of scrubs. She walks to the locker room and checks which locker is hers. Dropping off her stuff in it, she changes.</p>
<p>‘You are the new girl, aren´t you?’</p>
<p>‘Yeah, Francine.’</p>
<p>‘Hi Francine, I am Great, I work at the OR. Welcome.’</p>
<p>‘Thanks. I am assigned to the ICU.’</p>
<p>‘Well, good luck.’</p>
<p>The other woman finishes and walks out. She closes her locker and takes a deep breathe before leaving the basement and reporting at the cleaning station.</p>
<p>‘Francine?’</p>
<p>‘That’s me.’</p>
<p>‘Did you see the safety and security officer?’</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I got the training and welcome packet.’</p>
<p>‘Perfect. OK, you will be teamed with Stephan. Stephan, can you come over please?’</p>
<p>A man, presumably Stephan, walks up to them.</p>
<p>‘Stephan, this is Francine, she starts at the ICU today. I am a bit short staffed today, can you explain what she needs to know?’</p>
<p>‘Sure, no problem. Come with me Francine.’</p>
<p>Stephan grabs one of the cleaning carts and they make their way over to the ICU ward. While they walk there, he explains the workings of the hospital and then they are in the ICU. Francine is a bit overwhelmed by all the noises and beeps and nurses that walk around.</p>
<p>‘We keep to ourselves, clean the rooms, most people here are really sick. It is not like a normal ward where patients like the small talk and attention.’</p>
<p>Stephan proceeds explaining how a room is cleaned, what products and microfiber cloths to use for what. They all have a designated color, so it isn´t that hard to remember.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*  *  *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Francine’s evening shift is almost over. She is called over to clean up after a new patient that was brought in. So she grabs her cart and walks over.</p>
<p>In the room is a young man lying in bed. He is intubated and he has a thick bandage around his chest, his shoulder and arm are also in a cast. In a chair next to him is an older man, a dad, although they don´t appear to be family, but you never know.</p>
<p>‘Hi, I was asked to come clean up.’</p>
<p>‘Yeah, I spilled coffee, I’m sorry, I…’</p>
<p>‘No worries, that is why we are here. Sit down. I’ve got this.’</p>
<p>She quickly cleans the spilled coffee and says her goodbye before leaving the room and ending her shift.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*  *  *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day, she is cleaning when there is a ruckus from one of the rooms, alarms shrill and the older man is shoved out of the room. Not knowing what to do, she approaches him.</p>
<p>‘Can I offer you some coffee?’</p>
<p>The man keeps staring the room where doctors and nurses frantically work on their patient.</p>
<p>‘I…’</p>
<p>‘Come with me, we don´t want to be in their way, do we?’</p>
<p>She gestures to follow her to the pantry, where she pours him a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>‘My name is Jack.’</p>
<p>‘Hi, I’m Francine, nice to meet you Jack.’</p>
<p>‘Thank you for cleaning up after me, yesterday night.’</p>
<p>‘No worries, that is why we are here. Is he your son?’</p>
<p>The man looks up at her from his coffee cup, ‘yes, no, he…’</p>
<p>‘Sorry, that is private. Sorry for prying.’</p>
<p>‘No, it’s OK. I am just worried. I can´t lose him.’</p>
<p>‘The doctors are doing their best.’</p>
<p>‘I know.’</p>
<p>One of the nurses walks up to Jack, ‘you can come back in, Mac is going to be fine. The doctor will explain everything.’</p>
<p>‘Thanks.’</p>
<p>Jack turns back to Francine, ‘thanks for the coffee.’</p>
<p>‘You’re welcome.’</p>
<p>Francine returns to her cleaning duties. The man, Jack, takes his seat next to Mac’s bed. The doctors is talking to him. Hopefully the young man will pull through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*  *  *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Over the days, she can see the young man starts to move, he is appears to be still unconscious, so she asks about it, the duty nurse explains that they are weening the patient of the drugs that keep him under, so he is moving more. Jack never left his place next to the patient’s bed, which is odd, because there is a strict visitor policy at the ICU. So he must be someone very important or maybe the patient is a celebrity and Jack is a bodyguard, the young man is handsome enough.</p>
<p>The man, Jack, is standing next to the young man, carefully combing his hair, there is a gentleness she didn´t expect from him.</p>
<p>When she is done with the room next door, she knocks on the door and Jack looks up.</p>
<p>‘I need to clean. Can I come in?’</p>
<p>‘Sure come in, do I need to go?’</p>
<p>‘No, just lift your feet when I mop the area under your seat, and stay seated while it dries, ‘ she smiles.</p>
<p>Jack starts small talk, it is clear he needs someone to talk to, so she indulges him, while keeping up her pace. When she is done, she tells Jack she is done and that she will be back tomorrow.</p>
<p>‘Thanks.’</p>
<p>‘You’re welcome.’</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*  *  *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Having had five days off shift, she enters the ICU with her cart and the first thing she notices, is that Jack is not in his usual spot. When she looks better, Mac is also no longer in the room. Did something happen?</p>
<p>When she cleans the nurses’ desk, she asks about what happened to the patient in room 2516.</p>
<p>‘Oh, he was transferred to a regular ward this morning.’</p>
<p>‘Oh good.’</p>
<p>After her shift she changes her clothes and walks to the surgical ward. She asks the nurse on duty where Mac’s room is and is pointed to the one closest to the nurses’ station. She walks towards the open door and peeks in. Jack is telling something to Mac, who seems to be listening. She doesn´t want to interrupt the two men, so she turns to leave, when Jack must have seen her.</p>
<p>‘Francine! Come in.’</p>
<p>‘No, I don´t want to disturb you, I…’</p>
<p>‘Nonsense, come in. Mac, this is Francine, she is a cleaning lady on the ICU. She cleaned up after me and took care of my caffeine intake.’</p>
<p>‘Hi Francine.’</p>
<p>Mac’s voice is way deeper than she expected, but maybe it is still rough from underuse.</p>
<p>‘Hi Mac, good to see you doing better.’</p>
<p>‘So what are you doing here?’ Jack asks.</p>
<p>‘I came onto shift and room 2516 was empty so…’</p>
<p>‘You feared the worst.’</p>
<p>‘Well.. I… I asked the nurses and they told me you were doing better and were transferred here. So I… I really don´t know what I am doing here. I just needed to see for myself that you were OK.’</p>
<p>‘Well, I am, thank you for your concern.’</p>
<p>‘Well, I am off. Get well soon, Mac. Goodbye Jack.’</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>